Modern receiver systems have developed along widely accepted designs that result from a trade-off between various design requirements. For example, the components and systems of a wireless or cordless communications device must typically be selected by balancing requirements for cost, size, weight, signal reception and transmission, and power consumption, each of which may be equally important depending upon the application. For some stationary communications devices, the size, weight, and power consumption may be less important than the signal reception and transmission features. Thus, the stationary device might be heavier and consume more power than a wireless device, but may also be able to transmit a stronger signal and to receive a weaker signal.
For wireless or cordless devices, many systems and components, such as mixers and automatic gain controllers, have been accepted as standard receiver stages so as to provide a known level of noise reduction capability in exchange for a higher-than-optimal rate of power consumption. Thus, while it may be desirable to eliminate one or more of these systems or components to increase the length of time that the device may operate using a battery, eliminating the components or systems might result in an unacceptable level of noise, such as interference or atmospheric noise, in certain applications. Thus, the only alternative available to increase the length of time that the wireless or cordless device may be used is to increase the battery size, which also results in increased weight and cost.